History of the automobile

The history of the automobile traces the development of self-propelled road vehicles, their technologies and industries, and their effects on society.

Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot: A French engineer whose 1769 steam-powered road vehicle is often considered the first full-size automobile. His experimental vehicle marks an early attempt to move people and equipment without animal power.
Steam car: An automobile propelled by a steam engine that generates power from heated water. Steam vehicles preceded gasoline cars and remained a competing design into the early twentieth century.
Automobile industry: The global network of firms that design, manufacture, sell, and service motor vehicles. Mass automobile production created a major industrial sector and reshaped manufacturing.
Bicycle: A human-powered vehicle with two wheels arranged in tandem and propelled by pedals. Bicycles offered personal mobility without the fuel, expense, or road demands of cars.
Internal combustion engine: An engine that produces power by burning fuel inside a cylinder or combustion chamber. Its development made compact, self-propelled vehicles practical.
Electric car: A vehicle propelled by one or more electric motors using stored electrical energy. Electric cars were early competitors and have returned as a major propulsion technology.
Highway system: A network of major roads built for long-distance and high-volume vehicle travel. Rising car ownership prompted governments to expand and improve road infrastructure.
Horse-drawn vehicle: A road vehicle pulled by horses or other draft animals. It was the dominant form of wheeled personal transport before motorization.
Benz Patent-Motorwagen: A three-wheeled gasoline-powered vehicle built by Karl Benz in 1885 and patented in 1886. It established a landmark in the emergence of the modern automobile.
Gasoline engine: An internal combustion engine designed to burn gasoline as fuel. Its compact power and convenient refueling helped gasoline cars dominate twentieth-century markets.

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